Martin John Bender

Born in 1922, Martin received his B.A from the College of Wooster, Wooster Ohio and was fast tracked during World War Il to medical school at Case Western Reserve Medical School in Cleveland. Shortly thereafter he met the love of his life, Lois, his wife of sixty-seven years, who passed away in 2017.

Martin's professional career as a practicing urologist in Evansville for thirty-seven years at St. Mary Hospital was one of supreme dedication and expertise at his practice at Urological Services in Evansville, and he championed a number of new technologies in the advancement of his specialty. At the time of his death, Martin was still sponsoring the education of future medical students at The College of Wooster, and the Indiana University School of Medicine - Evansville.

"Doc" as he was affectionately known during his last season, often could be found in the lounge at Riverpoint, telling stories from his time as a medical captain in the US Army on Koji-do, a communist POW island during the Korean War. However, his stories were not limited to his military experiences.

After retirement, he was a consummate advocate for health, and rarely let anyone pass through his sphere of influence without encouraging them to exercise, maintain a healthy diet and "strive to reach a high school fighting weight." As such, he remained the unofficial spokesperson Emeritus for the Indiana Senior Olympics and competed in every sport available in his age group including chess, shuffleboard, track and field, ping-pong, tennis (singles, doubles and mixed), pickleball, golf and swimming.

When he was eighty-five, he was one of twelve that qualified for the individual medley in swimming, and when seven swimmers had to bow out of their heats, he came in third in the final heat, taking the bronze medal at the nationals. His comment afterwards was typical of his sense of humor: "Well it just goes to prove that if you live long enough, you'll get a medal in something."

And that he did. According to Doc, the medal he was proudest of was working for the Lord Jesus, in service for sixty years as a member of Methodist Temple in Evansville, where he stewarded Red Cross blood drives, and taught discipleship courses. Other organizations where he gave his service was the Evansville Downtown Optimist Club (awarded the Humanitarian Award), SWIRCA, Indiana University Foundation, Camp Carson, and a charter member of Tri-State Athletic Club.

He is survived by his (son) Jeff and Carrie Bender of Evansville; (daughter) Melanie and Dan Davis of Newburgh; Leslie Bender (daughter-in-law) of Cambridge, New York. Martin is also survived by grandchildren Sean, Shannon, Chris, Danielle, Emily, Brandon, and 14 great-grandchildren.

In addition, Martin was preceded in death by his first son, Gary, of Omaha, Nebraska in 2001.

Honoring Martin's wishes, a private family service will be held at Alexander Funeral Home - East Chapel.

Condolences may be offered at www.AlexanderEastChapel.com.